1,100 find sanctuary in Magnolia

EVACUEES

KIM JACKSON, Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, September 29, 2005

Magnolia city officials say their residents escaped the wrath of Hurricane Rita, but provided shelter for close to 1,000 people from other Houston/Galveston communities trying to escape the worst of the storm.

Magnolia Mayor Jimmy Thornton said he was bursting with pride at the hospitality Magnolia residents, churches, law enforcement officers, and especially, school district officials showed evacuees who flooded the streets of city last Thursday and Friday.

Thornton estimated that between 300,000-400,000 cars moved through downtown Magnolia on FM 1774, and south of the city on FM 149, seeking refuge in cities and towns north of the Houston/Galveston area.

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Along the way, hundreds of those vehicles broke down or ran out of gas, Thornton said.

Many of the evacuees grew impatient with the traffic, and worried they would not reach their destination in time to get off the road when high winds hit.

"Magnolia ISD opened up two of their schools as shelters," Thornton said. "It was an amazing response."

Mike Holland, Magnolia ISD superintendent, said district officials made the decision to open the Magnolia Junior High Sixth Grade Campus, 110 S. Magnolia Blvd., at 5 p.m. Thursday.

With more than 450 people there by late Thursday night, the district opened Magnolia High School at the corner of FM 1488 and FM 149 to house about 250 people.

Holland said the district was forced to close the Magnolia High School shelter before the storm hit Friday night because sections of the school are not built to withstand hurricane-force winds.

By that point, many people who stayed at the shelters Thursday night were ready to move on, but another round came in to the 6th Grade campus Friday night.

"People from the community brought food, water and bedding for the evacuees," Holland said. "And our guests were awesome. They folded up the bedding, swept the floors and cleaned up the schools before they left."

Precinct 5 Montgomery County Constable David Hill said the majority of stranded cars are gone, and the city and southwest Montgomery County came out virtually unscathed by the high winds.

"Tree limbs in the streets and yards and electrical outages were the worst things we saw," Hill said. "But that traffic on FM 1774 and FM 149 was the worst I have ever seen."